London 2012 logo- what is good graphic design?

Offical website- our brand

http://www.london2012.com/about-us/our-brand/index.php

On the website they talk about how they want a powerful brand that combines the olympic rings and the city of London together. They say that 2012 is they're brand as its universal and understandable worldwide- i think that this is an effective idea as it is involving other countries, so it continues the theme of the whole event.

They mention several times how they want to include and involve everyone of all types. The brand logo is all about a positive vibe- "Our emblem is simple, distinct, bold and buzzing with energy...It feels young in spirit. Full of confidence, certainty and opportunity."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/606/A23431826

The BBC continue the hype over the logo and gives the opinions of people involved;

It then goes on to ask you what you think of the logo, and a majority of the comments arent so appreciative of the logos design;

Personally i agree with the latter comments, i think that the logo is uninspiring, unimaginative, and could have been designed by anyone. Dont believe the hype.

http://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2007/june/2012-logo-lance-wyman-says-give-it-a-chance

The creative review website has mixed views about the logo. Some people often commenting nagative things about it, but then going on to say they want to give it a chance. I think peoples biggest concern is the colour- why bright pink? Maybe people are right and at first glance it might not be what everyone was expecting, but if we give it a chance we might recognize that its young, fun and has potential. One comment had a particularly interesting outlook on it;

http://www.davidairey.com/london-2012-olympic-logo-disaster/

The chairman of Londons 2012 organising commitee said: " Its an invitation to take part and be involved" after it was stated that its aiming to appeal to today internet generation. - I cant quite see the link between the logo and 'internet generation'.

More interestingly.. Iran is threatening to boycott the Games after "Internet documents have proved, using the word zion in the logo of 2012 Olympics Games is a disgracing action and against Olympic's valuable mottos." - The logo may not look very pleasant, but after all thats been said about how they want everyone to feel involved, would they really purposefully do this?

Iran sent the IOC a letter stating "There is no doubt that negligence of the issue from your side may affect the presence of some countries in the Games, especially Iran which abides by the commitment of values and principles."
The IOC confirmed that the letter had been recieved but insisted that the logo "represents the figure 2012, and nothing else" - I think that this is an acceptable and valid response and the claim is absurd.

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/51740-the-london-2012-logo-the-blogosphere-is-angry

The metro shows how the social networking world is responding. There are alot of tweets on this page that are rather amusing such as;

All of the websites visited have allowed you to have your own say, showing that people are interested to get more and more opinions- this alone shows what controversy its caused.

Vivienne Westwood

The articles begins by giving credit to Vivienne for her business mind and ability to create such a strong brand identity - "The logo itself might aswell be her signature". The recognisable use of baby pink and gold are thought to be resembled as feminine, and royalty - "In fashion circles, Vivienne Westwood is as close to royalty as it is possible to be"

In her way of work the graphics and the fashion are linked and work together- "the graphics feed off the fashion."  She built up her own vocabularly of symbols, which all mean something to her customers. The most famous symbol is the Orb, which represents tradition and past, and was redrawn by Tracey Emin in a more scribbly effect.

The red label has been designed to look more stylish and feminine, whereas the MAN label was designed to look more rough and the logo on the bags were designed to look like stone henge.

All logos and symbols are carried through to the packaging, fragrance and accessories.

Lecture three

El Lissitzky, 1924- The constructor

Hannah Hock, 1919- Cut with the kitchen knife Dada- when print became available but was expensive

Albert Ranger Patzch, 1924- The world is a beautiful series - Focuses on pattern and catches in well. Criticzed for no pushing photography ideas, just simply makes beautiful pictures that any artist could.

Jack Vattrino is a best selling alive artists, and his painting are sold everywhere. Except they are not sought after by museums ect.

Emilio Pucci, Mani, Fendi, gucci- Use of fur- Fur is sustainable, but sometimes not seen as moral- many debates.

Christopher Kane- Upcoming designer for knitwear, however he uses real size woman- which kicked off debates as lots of people didnt want to be associated with a designer who did this.

Marco Evaristti- he created a piece of 'art' where he put gold fish in blenders and plugged the blenders in in the galleries. One viewer of the art work turned on a switch and then turned the blender on. This case went to court but was not seen as Marcos fault.

Animal Cruelty?

Lecture two

Creating ethical questions for fashion

-The use of animal fur and skin- right or wrong?
- How clothes are made in other countries- how much are the workers paid?
- How brands exploit other countries?
-Religious issues- if other women from different background can wear certain products?
-The size and health of models?

Creating ethical questions for photography

- Whether airbrushin photos and giving unrealistic views is appropriate?
- Permission and law issues to take a photo of someone?
- Nude images- the body/ nakedness- whether its acceptable?

"Photography is one of the new media forms that changes perceptionn and changes the structure of society"

What is photography?

- The art or process of producing images of objects or photosensitive surfaces
- The art practice or occupation of taking and printing photographs

Lecture one

Summing up our subject in one word answers
Fashion

- Inspiring
- Construction
-Understanding
-Development
-Eclectiscism
-Postmodernism

Photography

- Telling a story through an image
-Emotive
-Expressive

Graphics

-Communication
-Advertising
-Marketing

Sally Mann interview

With her own unique style in photography, Sally Mann shows us why she does what she does with her strong views and opinions, she is fearless in the publics reactions and defends certain pieces of her work related to her children by saying

" I am just a mother taking pictures of my children doing things children do"

In my opinion, similarly to Jock Sturges and Nan Goldin, Sally Mann has been critised over her use of naked children. I think her images are photographed in a way that prevents them entirley from being seen as pornographic as she portrays the children in an innocent and playful way. At the beginning of her book, Immediate Family, Sally writes, "We are spinning a story of what it is to grow up. It is a complicated story and sometimes we try to take on the grand themes: anger, love, death , sensuality, and beauty"
I think she sums up the meaning and truth behind her photographs perfectly in this quote. 

Controversies- A legal and ethical history of photography press realease

In the introduction, its immediatley stated that since the invention of photography in 1839, it has caused controversy, debates, legal proceedings and sensational trials.

The right to photography, by Daniel Girardin

- It is stated that photographs are the source of endless debates and conflicts that often end up in court - i find this statement very bold as it is only looking at prehaps more extreme art, personal to certain artists that is made to cause a stir and some contrversy. It is forgotton that some art is made just for its beauty with no real meaning behind it other than maybe emotions, this type of work is impossible to cause debate, and could only simply create opinion on the work.

- Laws, attitudes and the limits of what is acceptable in terms of representations varies from ones country or culture to another. - this is a very good point, an effective example of this would be the case of,  Guillermo Vargas Habacuc, where he found a stray dog tied it up in a gallery and put a bowl of water and food just out of its reach.  Stray dogs are very common in his country, but often not in others, so other countries found this more of a devestating piece of 'art'.  In his defence, he says that people walk past these stray dogs everyday and nothing is thought of it, but as soon as you stick them in a gallery for people to see people notice the dogs and what is being done to them, i think his work got his point accross

- Certain laws are not enforced as the no longer correspond to practice, whereas others evolve as a result of the courts decision. Photographs that have been published for many years can be forbidden, while others begin to circulate freely after a long period underground. It is all a question of how the picture is interpreted, of the meaning the is read into them- i am intergued as to how and who read thes images, as so many peple have different views and interpretations of art it seems an impossible task to decide whether one if right or wrong to be seen.

- Its stated in other words that, since the apparant invention of photography, artists have have to fight for their work to get acknowledged, then fight for the protection of copyright, then fight to say their work was acceptable and the meaning behind it. It seems every process was a struggle as photography was new and maybe the thought of the dramatic change scared people in that time period.

- Later in the text my answer on how an image is interpreted is answered- A photograph is interpreted due to the cultural conventions associated with its creation or distribution. Reading an image in this way is something each individual does in accordance with his personal moral or philosophical convictions. It is also wha a society as a whole does by referring to the laws and ethics that form the foundation of a particular culture. The conventions of representation change at the same time as the techniques used for the creation or distribution of photgraphs.

- Main cases that have been sent to court have lead to the censuring of images and their prohibition reveals that the issues involved are associated with money, politics, morality or sexuality.

- Money? Nowadays photographic collections and archives of 19th and 20th century work have become financial and historical treasure troves.

- When a conflict becomes a controversy, it is an indication of attitudes and sources of tension in a society at a particular moment. A controversy is like a mirror in which the convictions of a community at that time become visible.

- The article then goes onto to talk about a series of cases that have causes controveries. For example, the Gross case,  Brooke Shields was photographed at age 13 naked with her mothers consent and signature given to the photographer, the image was then shown in various publications and places. As Brooke grew older she no longer wished for the photo to be shown so took it to court, she was told that she was binded the her mothers signature, then appealed and won, however it was a 2 year long court battle and it ended in 1992 with an artist called Richard prince who brought the rights to use and reproduce the image of Brooke, and it ended up being sold at Christies in 1999 for $151,000.  - This sort of case who be hard to judge in court, as you would have all the legal elements such as the mothers signature binding her into the contract, unabling her from being able to stop the artists from using it. But then her rights should be taken into consideration, the fact she was just 13 when they were taken, and she appealed when she was older showed should have the fact that she was more aware of what was going on and the effect it could have at this point.

Everyday creative practices

Curtains- Lining, dark thick fabric- blocks out light- practical

Pillows- Feather stuffed to create comfort and can mould in and out of any shape

Bus seats- Sort of rough fabric to grip you to the seat (no seatbelts) slightly cushioned to create comfort for journey. feels cheap- industrial purposes- however not easy to clean?!

Doort mat- Rough and bristly to remove dirt, thick to hold more dirt

Advertisements on sides of bus- waterproof, windproof, large and colourful to draw your attention. Practical for advertising as buses travel around a lot so it will be seen by many people